An attempt for decreasing the size of fluorescent lamp and a lamp apparatus has been conducted for a long time. The effort was successful in that making a ballast of fluorescent lamp adaptable to a commercial incandescent lamp socket and reducing the sizes of a lamp and a ballast.
One example of the small-sized fluorescent lamp, a compact fluorescent lamp is shown in FIG. 1. A socket-type ballast device which is equipped with a socket for compact fluorescent lamp is shown in FIG. 2.
The socket-type ballast device has a socket 18 for compact fluorescent lamp 27, and a commercial incandescent lamp base 19.
The base 19 is adapted to an incandescent lamp socket, and the compact lamp socket receives a plug 28 and pins 29 of the compact fluorescent lamp 27. When the plug is inserted into the socket 18, a projection 28-1 of socket plug 28 of the compact fluorescent lamp is locked by a locking spring not shown in FIG. 2.
A compact fluorescent lamp socket and a ballast device which are invented by the present inventor were filed in the USPTO, a Ser. No. are 08/251,580, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,545,950, filed on May 31, 1994 and 08/446,895 filed May 17, 1995, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,569,981.
These two invention were for reducing the size of a ballast device.
However, the above-described prior designs of this applicant has a sufficiently reduced size, but a manufacturing process is difficult for mass production. That is, the assembling process needs much time that terminal settling plate is assembled to socket substrate by means of screws, tails of terminals are soldered to PCB or to the lead of the transformer or other elements, and two lines from incandescent lamp base are connected to the rectifying circuit of PCB.